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21 January 2016

Princess Ingrid Alexandra Wears Her Heart Pendant Necklace

Photo: Jørgen Gomnæs / Det kongelige hoff

The royal jewels from Norway just keep coming this week! Today is Princess Ingrid Alexandra's twelfth birthday, and the Norwegian royal court released a new set of portraits for the occasion. In the pictures, the future queen wore a piece of heirloom jewelry that belongs to her: a pearl necklace with a diamond and ruby heart pendant.

Photo: Jørgen Gomnæs / Det kongelige hoff

The necklace was a christening gift to the princess from her grandmother, Queen Sonja. Sources have suggested that the necklace was originally a gift to Queen Sonja from her husband, King Harald, on the occasion of the christening of Ingrid Alexandra's father, Crown Prince Haakon. To my knowledge, though, the court has never clarified the precise provenance of the necklace. The piece has also been worn by Ingrid Alexandra's mother, Crown Princess Mette-Marit.

Photo: Jørgen Gomnæs / Det kongelige hoff

Ingrid Alexandra sometimes wears the diamond and ruby heart pendant on a simpler silver-toned chain, but for these portraits, she wore the pendant with the original pearl necklace. She also donned the necklace in one of the family portraits released to mark King Harald's Silver Jubilee: a special image featuring three generations of Norwegian monarchs, present and future.

Ingrid Alexandra often wears this important necklace for important occasions. Here's a picture of her from June 2010, when she wore the necklace on the night before the wedding of her godmother, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden.